Bertrand Goldberg: Architecture of Invention

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Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 2011, English

Nonfiction, Architecture

8 x 11.5 inches, 192 pages, 215 illustrations

ISBN: 9780300167047

Suggested Retail Price: $60.00

From the Publisher. Bertrand Goldberg (1913-1997) was a visionary Chicago architect whose designs for housing, urban planning, and industrial design made a distinctive mark in the modern era. This publication, the first to focus in-depth on the entirety of Goldberg's life and work, traces his development from his early Bauhaus training to his notable architectural achievements. Featuring previously unpublished material, it also includes Goldberg's plans for unrealized projects as well as his collaborations with other prominent modern architects, such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Buckminster Fuller.

Goldberg's interest in the social dimension of architecture was reflected in many of his cutting-edge designs. In 1959, he conceived the plan for his most iconic structure, the sixty-story Marina City residential towers, in the heart of downtown Chicago. He created a number of hospitals that offered a new paradigm for how patients and staff interacted within the space. Goldberg's progressive designs also extended to schools, prefabricated structures, and furniture. The publication accompanied an exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago.

On 2 book lists

Paul Makovsky

On Paul Makovsky’s Notable Books of 2011 list

If you’ve ever been to Chicago, you’ve probably marveled at Bertrand Goldberg’s Marina City towers—nicknamed the Corncobs. The architect worked on everything from a 1939 plywood chair to a futuristic hospital complete with four concrete towers (and now threatened with demolition). You’ll find some gems in this book, like the Ralph Helstein House of 1950–52, an early experiment with concrete; and the John Snyder House on Shelter Island—an aquarium on steroids. Goldberg was less successful with his furniture design, but certainly inspirational even today with his large-scale urban planning.

Zoë Ryan

On list of Books by Zoë Ryan

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